Swerto: The True CHampion
by S-W-E-R-T-O
Summary: Swerto, a prisoner joins the tournament for a chance to life. Soon he finds he has more than he needed to bargain with and is put through serious tests in some of the toughest matches he has ever fought
1. IntroChapter 1

Swerto

A True Champion

By Anthony Jessup

_"In 2291, in an attempt to control violence among deep space miners  
the New Earth Government legalized no-holds-bared fighting._

_Liandri Mining Corporation, working with the NEG,  
established a series of leagues and bloody public exhibitions._

_The fight's popularity grew with their brutality.  
Soon, Liandri discovered that the public matches were their most profitable enterprise___

_The professional league was formed;  
a cabal of the most violent and skilled warriors in known space,  
selected to fight in a Grand Tournament._

_Now it is 2341, 50 years have passed since founding of Deathmatch.  
Profits from the Tournament number in the hundreds of billions._

_You have been selected to fight in the professional league  
by the Liandri Rules Board. Your strength and brutality are legendary._

_The time has come to prove you are the best-  
to crush your enemies-  
to win the Tournament."_

– Unreal Tournament, Epic Games 1999

Chapter 1: The Past and the Present

It was 2332, and there was no room for mistake. Swerto stepped forward, flak cannon in hand. He lifted the heavy orange weapon and slowly turned looking at the surrounding area. Around him were crates and many sliding doorways. He was in a warehouse, a perfect place for an amateur tournament to take place.

Deathmatch was the name of the game, it required Swerto to either kill the other person, or make it to where they couldn't fight anymore. Deathmatch was legalized 41 years earlier by the NEG, a move that was meant to bring peace. Instead all Deathmatch brought was a blood sport to fight in, much like the gladiator arena's of old.

Swerto's opponent in this match was an ex-soldier for the NEG, a Thundercrash elite. His name was Malcolm and he was quickly earning his fame. Swerto respected him, but didn't like him one bit. Standing at six feet, Malcolm stood almost eye to eye with Swerto, something that would intimidate most people given Swerto's build.

Deathmatch wasn't a sport for heroes, or people who had a powerful conscience. The people who played the sport weren't even, par se, but they weren't necessarily good either. It took a person who was willing to kill others for sport to fight in the tourney. The biggest problem with the amateurs, unlike the professional league, there was no way to "re-spawn". The process of quickly cloning a persons body and conscience and teleporting it into the arena was extremely expensive.

Swerto wasn't evil, nor was he good. He was pretty much the same as everyone else who joined the tournament. He wanted a place in the universe. Not being the most intelligent person, or the most skilled with most job worthy things, Swerto had no niche. He found his calling in the violent blood sport he was now playing.

At a little over six feet tall Swerto was definitely over average height for a teenager. He had little to fear about being menacing, he was sure he would grow more muscular over the years. Swerto wasn't small, but he wasn't overly large either. Swerto was moderately built, With his dark as night hair Swerto would one day look menacing if he wanted to.

Swerto turned around again and took another sweep of the area, his light armor allowed him to move quickly, but gave barely any protection against weapons used in the tourney. He heard a noise behind him and quickly spun to meet it.

Running toward him from the other side of the warehouse was Malcolm. He was wearing his green military armor and sunglasses. His skin was a dark color, in times long past would have been called African. In his hands he was carrying two enforcers, a high caliber semi-automatic handgun.

Swerto turned and jumped behind a crate before Malcolm could get a shot off. He slid around the corner and took a shot at Malcolm. The soldier jumped behind a different crate similarly and took cover. Swerto looked for a way out of the standoff and saw a path leading around the corner, hopefully to the direction Malcolm came from. It was his best chance, Swerto quickly stood up and shot a few flak rounds in Malcolm's general direction. As he rounded the corner Swerto looked directly at a dead end.

Not wanting to waste any time he quickly turned back around and started shooting more shells through the doorway. Swerto ran through and jumped behind the crate. When he didn't hear any fire being returned he slowly looked around the corner. He didn't see any sign of Malcolm. Swerto stood up and ran around the crate Malcolm was taking cover behind and saw that there was a hole in the floor behind it. Swerto cursed and ran back across the room where he knew a sniper rifle was stashed.

Behind a large crate there was an empty space where a rifle once sat. Swerto cursed again and stood back up thinking. As he turned around Swerto already knew he was going to have some problems. Prone in between some boxes Malcolm had the rifle and was aiming it directly at Swerto. Malcolm pulled the trigger and sent a fifty caliber round across the warehouse. The round went directly into Swerto's knee and out the other end.

The lower half of Swerto's leg detached from the rest of his body and fell to the floor. Swerto quickly fell in the other direction cursing. Swerto grabbed at the bloody stump dropping his weapon. The pain was excruciating, like nothing Swerto had ever felt in his sixteen years of life. He quickly slipped out of consciousness.

Swerto woke up on a cold cot in a large white room. He looked down at his left leg and saw a mechanical replacement. Swerto cursed again to himself, this had probably cost his family a fortune. He had already distanced himself from most of his relatives from his career choice. He didn't need any more problems with them, he didn't want any either.

Swerto sat up and looked around the white room, there was nobody in sight. As he slowly turned and got off the cot he quickly noticed the weight of his new leg., what he didn't expect was how easy it was to move. The teenage gladiator quickly walked across the room, the leg almost felt natural, except for the fact that he didn't feel anything that it touched. He turned and walked out of the room and looked around for the doctor. When he found him Swerto quickly checked out and left.

Swerto had a thirst for vengeance and needed to quench it with Malcolm's blood. Swerto headed to the only place in the colony he knew Malcolm would be at after a victory like that. When he arrived at the bar Swerto got out of his ride and walked inside. On this far reach of civilization the fact that he was under the legal drinking age didn't matter, what did was that he was carrying weapons.

As soon as he walked in two large men showed up in front of Swerto. Both of them looked like they were ready for business, but so was Swerto. Swerto grabbed at both thighs where head two enforcers in holsters. He pulled them up with lightning fast speed and pointed them at both the bouncers craniums.

"Tell me, where is Malcolm… I have a present for him." Swerto said cracking a sinister grin at one of the bouncers.

"Listen kid, we don't want trouble… just turn around and we'll forget you ever came in here." The first bouncer said. Swerto slightly tightened his finger around the trigger enough to be noticed but not make the gun fire.

"Where is Malcolm." Swerto repeated calmly, he was no longer grinning.

"He's in the private lounge in the back," The second bouncer said looking a little scared. He slowly raised his hand to reveal he also had an enforcer. "But you won't be seeing him anytime soon."

'Wrong answer," Swerto said and tightened both of his fighters. Red clouds of blood brain matter appeared behind the men's heads. Swerto moved the barrels of the weapons off of the corpses as the fell forward revealing large exit wounds in the backs of the heads. Swerto ran forward through panicking patrons toward the private lounge in the back.

Swerto kicked down the door and jumped through the open doorway. He looked around and saw an empty room except for one man, Malcolm. Malcolm had an enforcer of his own in his hand and had it pointed directly at Swerto's head. He motioned for Swerto to lower his weapons.

"Kid, get out of here. I didn't want to kill you earlier, and I don't want to kill you now." Malcolm said slightly lowering the weapon. Swerto raised both enforcers and fired a shot at Malcolm. Malcolm quickly took cover behind a large lounge chair.

"Wrong move kid, have fun in prison. Malcolm stood up and tossed the enforcer with blinding speed directly at Swerto. It hit him directly in the forehead and knocked him back. The heavy weapon nearly knocked him out on contact, but Swerto mustered enough strength to stay conscious. He tried to raise his weapons again but saw multiple rifle barrels pointing directly at him. He looked up to see six NEG officers holding weapons pointed directly at him. Swerto cursed one last time before he got carried off.

Nine Years Later…

Prison life wasn't horrible, if you weren't a teenager. Not being a legal adult didn't stop the judge from slapping two consecutive life sentences on him for double homicide. He hadn't even heard from any of his family the entire time he was here. His first year in prison Swerto was caught in a fight and killed another prisoner when he took it too far, for that he was put in solitary confinement for the remainder of his first sentence.

Solitary confinement wasn't bad either, but it did get lonely. In a ten by ten foot room with no windows or source of light Swerto quickly began to miss outside life. He hated solitary confinement, he hated prison.

He had been in prison for nine years today. Nine years in the maximum security NEG prison does stuff to people, things that aren't good. Swerto was well out of his teens now at 25. Swerto rarely ever saw the sunlight, the last time he saw it was a month ago when he was taken outside for his annual recreation time. Swerto spent it staring at the sky for six hours, something others would consider wasting.

But now sitting in a dark room on a cold cot with no source of light, the memory of the sky was enough to keep hold of his sanity. Swerto had no doubts that he would spend the rest of his life here, he only wished he had finished the job so there would be enough reason to spend it here.

Swerto stood up and walked toward the door and put his ear to it. He heard some voices through the metal slit that was used to put food in. Suddenly the door began to open and Swerto slid back a few feet. In walked a man in a red formal suit. He was carrying a large black briefcase. He closed the door behind him and looked at Swerto.

"You must be Swerto, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said raising his hand.

"Who's asking" Swerto said in a quiet menacing voice.

"Oh, quite careful are we? Oh its to be expected. I am a representative from the Liandri corporation. I have a proposition for you," He said smirking.

"Continue," Swerto said slowly waving his hand.

"As you know, the Grand Tournament is always looking for new talent. If I'm not mistaken you were in a minor league before you were convicted, in the same minor league as the Thundercrash soldier Malcolm, It was because of this, and the action you took after your loss to Malcolm that I took interest in you. We've decided to give you a quick chance to get out of prison and into the tournament." The man said smiling once more. He turned around and walked out of the room leaving the door open.

After a few minutes Swerto noticed the door was still open. He stood up and walked toward the open doorway and looked out. He didn't see any guards down the large hallway that he was at the end of. Swerto looked at the ground and saw three things, an ASMD Shock Rifle, a Flak Cannon, and a Ripper.. Next to them there was a small radio headset. Swerto put it on and spoke into it.

"Hello?" he said clearly.

"Oh why hello there," the mans voice answered, "This is simple you see. You are in a maximum security prison, I have given you three weapons with limited ammunition . If you get out alive you are in the Tournament, but before you get excited, there are worse things you'll fight on your way out than simple security guards. I'll wait for you at the only way in or out of the prison with your release papers. Don't keep me waiting, or I might just change my mind." The man said clearly back. Swerto heard a click and knew the man had turned off the radio.

Swerto pulled off the headset and threw it to the side. "Well here goes nothing" Swerto said unenthusiastically. He picked up the Ripper and shock rifle and put them over his shoulder. He then picked up the Flak Cannon and took a step forward.


	2. Chapter 2

_"Die human"- Xan Kriegor_

Chapter 2: The Escape

Swerto took another step forward holding the flak cannon level with his waist. His metal leg made a clanking noise on the concrete floor as he walked forward down the long narrow hall. He knew that this was going to be no easy task. The guards alone would be carrying enough weapons to tear him to shreds. The job was made harder by what he was wearing, a bright orange cloth that offered no protection and made it near impossible.

The weapons Swerto was carrying were all standard weapons in the tournament, and he could see why the man from Liandri left them for him and not a set of assault weapons. He took some time to examine the weapons he was carrying.

The ASMD shock rifle on Swerto's right shoulder was probably one of the most advanced weapons used in the tournament. It was a rifle sized weapon with blue tubes going from the ammunition cartridges to the barrel and back again. The weapon shot a high velocity energy blast that moved at speeds near light, making it an instant hit weapon that fit into a rifle, much more appealing than a rail gun. The weapons primary fire would shoot the high velocity blast at a steady rate, the damage it would hand out wasn't amazing, but it did its job. The secondary fire of the weapon spat out an energy ball at his target at slower-than-sound speeds. The alternate fire was more powerful than the primary but could also be dodged; however, when combined with the primary fire would create a "shock combo". Shock combos involved shooting the energy ball with the energy blast would create a large explosion that would decimate any nearby targets. The strengths of the weapon were its accuracy, its moderate damage, and the shock combo. The weakness however was its fire rate; you could easily be outgunned before you could get off a second shot, if it weren't for the fact that the energy blast also knocked back your target.

The Ripper was the weapon Swerto had holstered over his left shoulder. This heavier weapon was far more vicious than the ASMD shock rifle. The weapon had the rear end of a rifle but the front end looked like two metal bars holding a large circular disc, on the side was the ammo pack the discs came out of. In their compressed form Swerto didn't know how many the rifle would carry, he had to wait and see. The primary fire would send out a fast moving razor-sharp disc that would bounce off walls until it either lost its velocity or hit a target. It was possible to cut limbs off, including the head with this weapon, which made it very dangerous. The alternate fire would shoot five discs together at a slower speed that would explode on contact with their intended target. The shreds of razor would hurt anyone within twenty feet of the explosion, and could kill somebody it directly hit. The strength of the weapon was the high fire rate, the moderate damage, and the ability to kill somebody in one hit by taking off their head. The weaknesses were that the individual discs when bouncing off of walls could also come back at you and take your head off as well, it was best to be careful.

The Flak Cannon was the final weapon Swerto was carrying. It was a large orange/yellow weapon that looked like a large rounded brick with a round hole cut through it with the butt end of a rifle attached to the bottom. The weapon shot a spread shot of flak, stuff usually reserved for anti air combat, directly in front of the user. The primary fire would explode a round in the chamber and fire it out the front end and would exit in a spread fire. The shot would decimate anyone within ten feet instantly. Within twenty feet most people would be near death, at thirty they would still be hurting. Outside of thirty feet the primary fire began to lose velocity and heat and didn't do anywhere near as much damage. The alternate fire would heat up a round and fire it front the chamber without exploding it in a large molten ball. When the round connected with any surface or target it would explode sending the flak in all directions with some fire. The alternate fire was more useful at a range outside of thirty feet where it wouldn't hurt you. The strength of the weapon was its high damage it could deal out, it was one of the few weapons that instantly killed. Its primary weakness was its limited range; even the alternate fire could only be shot so far.

Swerto had found the deal he was given to be very appealing, he had always wanted to be in the grand tournament since before he fought in the amateurs. Swerto and his younger brother had watched the tournament daily. If there wasn't a game that day they would usually watch a rerun, and if there were no reruns they would watch a group of people debate on who was the best combatant and why. They had both dreamed of making it to the Grand Tournament. Swerto had made it into the minors first, but his brother only being 8 at the time was far too young to enter. His family had more problems as well, while in prison Swerto had received a grim message from his brother. Swerto's sister had tried to follow in his footsteps and had died in the minor leagues of the tournament; this event had made his younger brother think twice about entering it at the minors.

He continued to walk down the hallway glancing at cells as he walked by. Most of the prisoners were standing up and going to the bars. They were screaming and spitting at him. One prisoner ran forward and through a large brick at Swerto that barely missed. Swerto turned and stared at the prisoner.

"Hey you, murderer, you aren't getting out of this prison any time soon… them guards are gonna blast you to pieces." He said in broken English. Swerto raised his flak cannon and pointed it directly at the prisoner. The prisoners eyes widened filled with fear. Swerto pulled the trigger and sent a spray of flak into the man's cell. The shrapnel tore the man apart and sent his body parts bouncing around the cell.

The rest of the prisoners backed away from the bars and went silent, sitting down and trying to avoid getting attention from Swerto. He turned and continued down the hallway at a faster pace. The clanking of his metal leg began to echo in the silence. Suddenly at the ends of the hallway the lights turned out. They continued to turn out systematically while moving closer to Swerto's position. Complete darkness surrounded Swerto and the prisoners silence gave Swerto an eerie sense of being back in the confinement chamber.

The sound of metal hitting metal sounded behind Swerto, it sounded almost like footsteps. He turned and pointed his flak cannon in the general direction and fired. Swerto heard sparks and a mechanical groan. The lights at the ends of the hallway turned back on and the rest began flashing red. Swerto looked down at the floor and saw the bloody; at least he thought it was blood, puddle that usually was left after he shot something this close. He looked around and saw parts, both mechanical and flesh, surrounding him. Then Swerto knew what he had just encountered.

It was a Liandri Angel. Liandri Angels were elite cybernetic enforcers for the Liandri Mining Corporation. They looked like beautiful women pulled apart and shaved bald and with most of their body parts replaced with metal. What gave the name angels were the two short metal wings hanging off their back. Under the wings were jump jets that allowed them to fly extremely short distances. They were grizzly reminders of what corporations are willing to do to people to get what they want. Swerto turned and began running down the hallway toward the exit.

A few turns later Swerto was at the elevator to exit the complex he now found himself in. With a few hits of buttons the large elevator began to descend to the lowest floor it reached, fifty. The thousand floor prison only had elevators that moved fifty floors at a time. Then every time they would stop there was another elevator on the other side of the prison. This security measure was made to stop an easy breakout; the only other way out was to drop hundreds of stories down to your death.

When the elevator door opened Swerto looked out and saw thirty or more guards were taking cover behind quickly built barricades. Swerto saw as the one who seemed to be the leader raised his weapon and aimed it at Swerto. Swerto jumped to the side and took cover in the elevator. Swerto pulled up his flak cannon and prepared to jump to the side while they were reloading. A hail of bullets flew into the elevator and tore holes in the metal box.

There was a pause while the men began to reload. Swerto jumped to the side and fired a flak ball into the crowd. The explosion sent people flying in different directions with their bloody limbs detached. Swerto ran across the room launching shrapnel in the direction of another group forcing them to take cover. Swerto pushed one of the barricades with his metal leg and moved it to be parallel with the rest of the guard's barricades. Swerto ducked behind it as a hail of bullets flew over him. Swerto raised his flak cannon in the air and fired. The trajectory allowed the flak shell to vault into the air with a sharp arc and land ten feet away behind the other guard's barricade. The barricades nullified the explosion before it reached Swerto but did its job on the guards. The few guards still alive were scurrying to get out of the bloody room.

One guard charged at Swerto with his rifle in front of him. Swerto jumped behind his barricade and shot directly at the guard. The shrapnel tore him apart and left his body parts rolling behind Swerto. Swerto began shooting flak at the retreating guards causing the ones in the rear of the line to trip and fall over their comrades severed limbs. The guards that made it around the corner Swerto decided to let go. Swerto continued forward walking slowly as to not slip on the pool of blood that had settled on the floor beneath him. The rectangular design of the prison made it easy to see all exits and entrances to every room from any point in the room.

As he continued through the area he was in Swerto had begun to dread what he knew was on the other side of the door he was now steadily approaching. It was at the center of the prison and was the only circular room on every floor. The room was full of coffin sized cells with psychopathic killers chained to the point they couldn't move. Around the room there were six entrances and exits, Swerto wasn't dreading the killers however, and he was dreading the security. The room was easy to get into, as to quell a riot, but difficult to get out of.

Four heavy repeating turrets were in the room, they were the least of his troubles. Above him for thirty floors there wasn't a singly room, there instead was a large empty tunnel. The floors, as well as the ceiling, were both made of glass. For every thirty floors there was a psychopath chamber, this was another security measure. Incase of a riot the prison guards could simply flush out the rooms by breaking the glass. The psychopaths in their cells suspended by beams would be unharmed. Anyone outside the cells, however, would find themselves either being cut to shreds or falling to their deaths.

Swerto put his hand on the door and checked the ammunition reader on his Flak Cannon, it was empty. Swerto tossed it to the side and pulled his ASMD Shock Rifle up and held it in front of him. Swerto bashed the door open with the butt of his weapon and jumped in arching side to side, sweeping the area for any threats. Swerto didn't see anything in the room except the cells. Swerto looked in the corners and didn't see any turrets, for some reason they were either retracted or removed since he arrived here nine years ago.

As he walked through the room Swerto stood in a strait line not wanting to grab the attention of one of the prisoners and have them raise an alarm that would most likely bring the turrets out. Swerto continued forward in the dimly lit room then the lights flashed off. Swerto heard the sound of breaking glass above him. Swerto wasted no time; he took cover under one of the cells while the glass fell around him. Swerto rolled from under the cell and pulled his rifle up and aimed toward the center of the room.

The ASMD shock rifle sent out a ball of energy toward the center of the room that abruptly exploded when Swerto shot it with the energy blast. Swerto looked around the room and saw ten Liandri Angels keeping their distance from the explosion. Swerto cursed to himself and pointed the rifle at the location he last saw one of them. He shot an energy blast that streaked through the darkness and hit one of them in the leg. The blast knocked her forward and quickly into the glass floor. The glass began to crack around her. The section of glass she was on gave way to her weight and she fell through the empty hole.

Swerto turned and shot another energy ball in the direction of another angel he saw. When he saw the reflection from the blue energy flash off the floor and show another one with a rifle pointing directly at him Swerto jumped to the side and narrowly dodged a shot that flew past him into another Angel. Swerto lifted up his rifle and shot a stream of energy into the Angel's face; the head quickly snapped back and the body went limp.

The lights turned back on and the remaining six Angel's pulled out weapons. Swerto raised the ASMD to be ready for another attack. Two Angels charged Swerto. One was carrying a chainsaw and had it revved up. Swerto aimed his rifle carefully at her neck and shot. The beam of energy cut her head clear off and sent it back at high speeds into the Angel behind her. The distraction was enough for Swerto; he aimed carefully and blasted her into the wall.

Another Angel tried to rush Swerto with an impact hammer. Swerto pointed the rifle at the floor under her and fired. The glass gave way and pulled her along with two other Angels to their dooms. The remaining Angel threw her weapon to the side and prepared to jump into the air. Swerto shot a blast into her right knee disconnecting her leg from the rest of her body. Before the Angel hit the ground Swerto got a final shot off into her head snapping it back.

With no more movement in the room Swerto decided that the danger was over. He carefully made his way across metal beams to be sure not to break any more glass plates. Swerto aimed the ASMD at the ground and pulled the trigger, when nothing came he threw it to the side.

"Damn, empty." Swerto said quietly to himself. Swerto made his way across the rest of the complex to the remaining elevator. When he had the doors closed and the elevator was descending Swerto pulled out the Ripper, his final weapon. Swerto aimed it directly at the door ready to shoot any Angels or guards on the other side.

The elevator doors slowly retracted showing a dark main hall. Swerto looked across the room looking for any sign of movement. The lights flashed on showing a room full of guards. Swerto jumped to the side taking cover again. Swerto pointed the weapon across the elevator to the rear and took fire ricocheting the razor sharp discs into the room behind him. Three shots later he could hear the screaming of soldiers unlucky enough to be hit. Swerto moved the weapon slightly down and took fire ricocheting the disc from the rear of the elevator into the floor and into the ceiling of the main hall.

More screams of pain filled the air as the blades quit moving. Swerto looked into the pack and saw that he had quite a bit of ammo left. Swerto jumped to the side and fired a combination of discs into a group of guards. The disc landed into the middle man's crotch. The man died nearly instantly sending his body parts along with blades into his comrades giving them similar fates.

Swerto took cover again as the guards opened fire. The bullets flew into the elevator tearing the rear wall completely off revealing the elevator shaft behind it. Swerto hit the button to close the doors and jumped out of the elevator as it ascended. When the elevator was clear he wedged the ripper in the doors and twisted to the side forcing the doors to open. Swerto ducked under the floor into the space under the ground floor. Swerto lifted the Ripper into the air to use as a mirror. When he looked into the reflection off of the weapon he only saw three guards left. One had a Minigun fixated directly onto the open door. The two flanking him were holding assault rifles and had them aimed at the same place.

Jumping into the air Swerto aimed the ripper directly at the middleman and fired. The razor-sharp disc flew through the air and hit the man in his neck. The blade cut his head cleanly off and lobbed it to the side into his comrades open arms. The man jumped back and screamed. Swerto took another shot and hit his other comrade in the leg cutting it clean off. He quickly fell to the ground and landed on his neck. An uncomfortable crunching noise filled the room. The remaining guard turned and ran at top speed toward the exit. Swerto stood and climbed onto the main floor.

As he walked across the room Swerto looked up and saw the corpses of the angels above him crushed against the glass. He looked closer and then noticed from further up Angels descending attached to wires. The six angels pulled out weapons and shot the glass underneath them shattering it. Swerto got out of the way of the falling glass. Swerto aimed his weapon and fired at the nearest Angel hitting her in the chest. The blade jammed itself into her chest and stopped turning. The Angel was still standing so Swerto let off a few more shots. Swerto went to pull the trigger again but didn't see a blade move from the barrel. The Angel took two steps toward him; blood oozing out of her, and then fell to the ground, dead.

Swerto lifted the weapon vertically like a sword and took hold. Swerto rushed forward to the nearest Angel and thrust the weapon forward directly into her chest. The sharp edged weapon cut directly into her. Swerto swung to the side and cut the rest of the way through her. Swerto kicked down the dying Angel and continued onto the next one. Swerto raised the weapon and swung violently to the side cutting her head clean in half. Swerto quickly twisted back and stabbed at an Angel rushing him. The sharp end of the weapon swung into her face cutting through her. The Angel dropped a chainsaw that skidded to a halt directly in front of Swerto. He jumped forward and grabbed it rolling to recover to a standing position. Swerto revved the chainsaw up and looked at the remaining two Angels.

One Angel was holding her own chainsaw, the other Angel was holding an assault rifle that seemed to be malfunctioning. Swerto beckoned for the Angel with the chainsaw to come. The Angel rushed him with the chainsaw held high over her head. Swerto thrust forward and threw the blade into her throat. A metal whine filled the room as the blade cut through cybernetic limbs the rest of the way down her body.

Swerto turned to meet the final Angel. He lowered the chainsaw as he ran at her. The Angel braced herself ready to dodge to the side of Swerto tried a vertical slash. Swerto slashed low horizontally catching the Angel in the knee. The blade cut her knee clear off and sent her flying toward the ground. Swerto corrected the blades trajectory and sent it flying through the Angels face. The Angel went limp and quit moving.

The chainsaw dropped to the ground as he stood up. Swerto looked around the room looking for any signs of life. When he found none Swerto turned toward the entrance and began walking. Blood was dripping from his fingertips, and Swerto was sure there was barely a spot on him that wasn't red.

Swerto walked through open doors out into the cold air of the penal colony. There, standing not even twenty feet away, was the man from Liandri holding the suitcase that held his release papers, and his future. Swerto walked toward the man slowly taking his time to breathe in the clean air. The man sat the suitcase down and began clapping.

"Bravo, bravo, magnificent performance. You are perfect for the Grand Tournament, my boss was right about you. Please follow me, after you get washed up and changed we'll head out for your future." The man turned and picked up the suitcase walking in the other direction. Swerto didn't know of anything else to do so he fell in line and followed cautiously.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Man down!" - Blake_

**Chapter 3: Deathmatch**

After he had left the prison the man from Liandri had taken Swerto be cleaned up and shopping for new clothes. After the clothes the man from Liandri took Swerto on a long trip through hyperspace to end up at an unnamed location. The man wouldn't tell Swerto where he was or where he was going. They ended up in front of a large building where Swerto couldn't see to the top of it.

The man from Liandri lead Swerto into the building and into a large glass elevator. Swerto looked around and saw nothing but retractable bulletproof glass on all sides. The Liandri man walked forward and pushed a button on the far side of the elevator and pulled a card out. He swiped the card through a slider and stepped back. He turned and handed Swerto his briefcase and began walking out.

"Wait, where are you going?" Swerto demanded.

"My business here is concluded, your future awaits at the top of this elevator, farewell Swerto." The man said and began walking in the other direction. As soon as he stepped out retractable glass lowered in his place and the elevator began to ascend at high speeds. If it weren't for the glass, however, Swerto wouldn't even know he was moving.

The elevator rose through a long black metal tube with great alacrity; the elevator became pitch black. As it passed through the tube Swerto began to feel a little uneasy, he was moving at high speeds toward an uncertain future. The elevator was full of light again as it exited the tube and abruptly stopped. The elevator groaned slightly from the sudden change in g-forces but then it was silent and the glass retracted behind Swerto.

On the other side of the glass there were large heavy bulkheads that slowly began to retract. When they were fully opened Swerto picked up the suitcase and headed in. He took the time too look around at his surroundings. He was in a large spherical room with black walls and floors. On one side was the door he just went through and the other was a large table where five people sat. In the middle of the room was a pedestal in front of a round platform. As Swerto got closer the members at the table stood up and motioned for him to move to the pedestal.

Swerto stood in front of the pedestal and saw a contract. He skimmed through it making sure he knew what he was agreeing to. The gist of it was that he was joining the tournament by his own free will and that Liandri had no responsibility for his well being, not that they would have either way. Swerto lifted a large ink pen and signed at the bottom.

"Very well, welcome to the Grand Tournament. You will be transported above where you will be introduced and then sent on your way to your first match on Earth. Good luck warrior." The middle person at the table said. He sat back down and the platform Swerto was standing on began to rise.

Swerto found himself on a crash course with his future. The ceiling opened up and Swerto found himself in a large open arena with cameras surrounding him. Swerto looked up to see an announcer pavilion where a man stood speaking to somebody next to him. Lights on the cameras turned on and the announcer began to speak.

"Well Tournament fans we have a new contestant. This man just fought his way out of an NEG penal colony, but thanks to Liandri he has been given total amnesty for his crimes against humanity. Now Tournament fans just to brighten your mood this man fought in minor leagues against none other than Malcolm, yes our rising star from Earth. I introduce to you Swerto, an elite fighter who has spent nine too many years in prison, yes that's right, we have a cold blooded murderer ready to fight and kill for your amusement. Well lets not take any more of your time while we introduce you to our next contestant." Another platform near Swerto lifted and a man wearing a military uniform raised into place.

"Well what do you know, few have fought as hard to get into the Tournament as this man folks. We introduce to you Blake! Blake has been fighting hard in the minors to get his chance to fight in the Grand Tournament, well folks lets not keep these two waiting. They have a long trip until they get to Earth. They will be Transported aboard the ITV Oblivion where…" The announcers voice trailed off as electricity surrounded the two contestants.

Swerto found himself suddenly on a large spaceship next to Blake, his future opponent. Blake stepped forward and presented his hand. "No worries, I don't kill rivals until they've got their weapons in the arena," Blake said in a cocky voice.

Swerto just stared at the hand and barked back, "Don't consider yourself my equal until you've stood up to me in the arena." Swerto turned and walked away to where he hoped his quarters would be for the remainder of the trip. A small bulkhead door opened and Swerto walked through closing it behind him. He found himself staring out a large window into space. Suddenly the stars merged together and formed a blue vortex as they jumped into hyperspace. Swerto turned and saw a man behind him.

"Who are you and what are you doing sneaking up on me?" Swerto demanded.

"Calm down there, here are your weapons, an Enforcer and an Impact Hammer, good luck warrior." The man said and then Swerto was suddenly surrounded in waves of energy again.

Swerto found himself staring into a moderate sized room with three ways in or out. He had something over his eye that he didn't before. Looking ahead of him he saw a heads up display on a small display mounted on the side of his head with a microphone going to his mouth. Swerto lifted his hand with an enforcer in it and checked the cartridge. The cartridge didn't move. He took a shot and heard it echo. Swerto looked through the room and saw three large crates, one had an pulled off and threw across the room.

Behind him Swerto heard a noise. He turned to see Blake there holding an enforcer and aiming it toward him. Swerto didn't even wait to react. Swerto lifted his enforcer and began firing. The gun shot five bullets through the air that hit Blake. He let out a groan as he fell forward dropping his weapon. Swerto walked toward him and picked up the weapon. Swerto felt a sharp pain in his back as a bullet pierced it. Swerto turned with both enforcers and aimed it at his attacker. He was shocked to see Blake again. He shot five more bullets at Blake and watched him fall forward dead again.

In that instant Swerto knew what was going on. Liandri had set a match up on the transport ship, the reason Blake reappeared after death was because this was an arena. Liandri had put into action their fast cloning technology and teleportation to create a sort of respawn. Swerto turned and ran toward the open crate. Swerto looked inside and saw a flak cannon. Swerto grabbed it and his enforces disappeared to be replaced with the flak cannon, another Liandri technological advancement.

Liandri had teleporter like technology store his weapons and pick up weapons he went over and place them into his hands, this would allow him to carry far more weapons than normal Swerto also guessed this is why the magazine on the weapon didn't detach. He looked at his side and saw a small box that had ten numbers on it. Swerto guessed there was one for each weapon.

Swerto took a look at his HUD. In the upper right corner there was a diagram of his body with a percentage of health next to it, the amount of damage he could take before his body gave up was well known and sensors probably tracked it. Along the bottom there was a row of numbers with weapons on them. In the lower right corner there was a box with a number that matched that on the ammo reader on his flak cannon. The lower left had a box that contained the number two, Swerto guessed It was the amount of kills he had.

On the row of weapons there were three spots with something in it, the first box had his impact hammer, the second his enforcer, the eighth had his flak cannon. Swerto ran out of the crate to see Blake holding an ASMD shock rifle. Blake took a shot at Swerto but went high. Swerto lifted his weapon and fired a spray of shrapnel in Blake's direction. The metal shredded Blake to pieces and left his rifle sitting there. Swerto ran forward and grabbed the ASMD. The number in the corner of his HUD turned to three and showed a spread of three above it.

Swerto switched his weapon to the ASMD shock rifle. Swerto looked at the three ways out of the room. On each end there was a ramp down to another room and in the center there was another doorway into a room with a large pillar obstructing his view. Swerto chose the furthest route to the left and ran down. Swerto found himself in a much small room with three doors again.

Blake ran through the doorway opposite the way he just came in with an ASMD shock rifle. Swerto shot an energy ball in Blake's direction. He fired an energy blast into the ball creating a shock combo that tore Blake apart. Blake's head rolled to a stop in front of Swerto with the rest of the body parts bouncing around leaving bloodstains on the ground. Swerto looked at the only other way out of the room which was a ramp slightly down to his right. As ran through the walls changed from gray to blue with the difference in lighting.

Halfway through the hallway there was another window showing outside, the other side of the hall had a large mirror. Swerto passed on to the other side where he saw Blake run over a rocket launcher and pick it up. Blake lifted the weapon and aimed it at Swerto.

Swerto ducked as two rockets flew overhead. Swerto aimed his ASMD and fired a blast into Blake pushing him into the wall behind him. Blake shot another rocket in Swerto's direction that hit the wall next to him. Swerto was pushed to the left out of the hallway into the open room. The number in the upper right corner changed to fifty as Swerto stood back up. Swerto fired again hitting Blake in the chest. Blake fell forward and stopped moving. Swerto ran over and grabbed the rocket launcher.

Swerto turned around and took the route to his right which lead up to a room he hadn't been to before. On his way up the ramp Swerto ran over a white box with a blue cross on it that sent a tingling feeling through him as the number in the corner changed to seventy.

In the large room there were also three ways in or out. In the center was that hallway that had the pedestal that obstructed his view again, and each end was another ramp out of the room. On the far end of the room there were three windows showing the space in front of them through hyperspace. On the ground there was an ASMD shock rifle and shock cores on either side. Swerto ran over the weapon and ammo and watched the ammo ticker go up to fifty.

Swerto felt a sharp pain in his back as shrapnel surrounded him. Swerto turned to see Blake with a flak cannon and pulled out his own. Swerto fired a shell at Blake that landed on head killing him. Swerto ran forward and grabbed Blake's flak cannon.

The number in the lower left corner changed to six and a message came up saying four kills left. Swerto ran through the middle hallway and found himself in the room where he started again. He saw Blake running toward the open crate and came out with a flak cannon. Swerto fired another shell at Blake and watched it blow him in half.

Swerto turned around instantly and fired again as he heard a noise behind him. Blake had spawned in the corner and had not had time to react to Swerto's attack. A message on his HUD lit up in red saying double kill. Swerto smiled and ran forward grabbing Blake's ammunition. Swerto switched to the rocket launcher and looked it over.

The rocket launcher was a large weapon that also had two firing modes. The primary fire would launch a rocket if the firing trigger was simply pressed. If you held the rocket in the direction of a target long enough you would hear a tone letting you know that you had a target lock. Firing after a target lock raised your chances of getting a kill, it was an intelligent move. The alternate fire loaded a rocket in the tube and shot it like a grenade at a target if simply pressed. The grenade would bounce around a little bit until it either hit somebody or the timer ticked to zero. If you held onto either trigger long enough the weapon could load a maximum of five rockets into the front and fire them simultaneously.

Swerto turned and loaded three grenades into the tube and fired them down one of the ramps. Swerto heard screaming and saw a confirmation message that he had killed Blake light up over the HUD. The number in the corner changed to nine.

He ran back through the middle hallway and was back in the room with the shock rifle. Swerto switched his weapon to the enforcer and was surprised to see that he had two instead of just one. He turned left and headed down to the second room he was in. He turned to the side and saw some rocket ammo and ran to pick it up. Swerto felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg again as Blake came up firing his enforcer. Swerto turned and fired both his enforcers simultaneously. Blake fell forward and slid down the ramp he was at the top of. A message over his HUD read: You are the winner.

For the first time Swerto noticed a camera hovering in front of him. Swerto walked toward it then heard the sound of a transporter behind him. Swerto turned to see a man with a large microphone that was walking toward him.

"Well congratulations on your win, Swerto. How are you feeling about the Tournament so far?" The man asked holding the microphone in Swerto's direction.

"I feel like this was too easy, next time I hope you give me a challenge." Swerto said pushing the microphone to the side.

"Wait a minute Swerto. You've survived your first match without getting fragged, how long do you think this streak can go on?"  
"Until I trip and activate a rocket at my feet," Swerto joked as he turned and continued to walk away.

"Well that was Swerto, he sure does have a personality. Well this is…" His voice trailed off as Swerto continued walking. He was transported back to the upper deck where he had been before. The man that was there earlier held out his hands motioning toward Swerto's enforcers.

"No thanks, I think I'll keep them." Swerto said putting the enforcers on his belt. Swerto took the box that had been on his side off, however, and handed it to the man.

"Whatever, I suggest you take the cartridges out at least and replace them with standard ones." He said as he put the box next to him. "Oh and you can keep the headset. I can show you how to customize it however you want." He said as he motioned toward a computer near him.

Swerto took off the headset and plugged it in. The man pushed a few buttons and the HUD showed up on the screen with a window next to it containing a bunch of parameters.

"We can customize everything on it from what is on it to the color of the specific things. Now are you satisfied with what is on there?" The man asked as he pointed to the screen.

"Well the HUD could be smaller and be white instead of blue, I never liked blue. White will also be easier to read in dark areas. Also is there a way to get a crosshair from my weapons to show up on the HUD?" Swerto asked.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I'll set it up for you real quick," The man said as he hit a few buttons on the keyboard. The HUD got smaller and changed to white. In the center there appeared a small cross. The man unhooked it and put it onto Swerto's head. "Go ahead test it out, move the weapon side to side and the crosshair will move with it. Now you can shoot accurately without having the weapon up to your eye."

"Good, how long until we reach Earth?" Swerto asked.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours. I'll leave you here, these will be your quarters until we arrive." The man said as he turned and walked toward the bulkhead door. He hit a switch and the door shot open. The man walked out and closed the door behind him.


End file.
